Friday

May 25, 2018 at 2:14 PMMay 25, 2018 at 5:15 PM

The accused mastermind of a criminal gambling enterprise in Cumberland County was sentenced Friday to 18 months in federal prison, according to a news release from the the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Kiet Vo, 50, of Fayetteville, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business. He appeared in federal court Friday in New Bern.

[ARRESTED: Cumberland County felony arrests]

Vo surrendered to lawmen a day after the Dec. 3, 2015, raid of four businesses and the arrests of eight others, including his wife Phong Ngoc Truong. It was the culmination of a 16-month investigation by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office then led by Sheriff Moose Butler. Lawmen said the Vo organization had between eight and 10 gambling machines in operation at five locations in Fayetteville.

[CRIMESTOPPERS: Most wanted]

The locations were on Cliffdale, Yadkin and Hope Mills roads, and along Bragg Boulevard. A fifth location on Bonanza Drive operated briefly, authorities said.

Vo was the owner of the former KV Internet Cafe in Glen Reilly Plaza, which was gutted by fire in 2014. Several gambling machines were discovered inside the building.

Vo and Truong provided gambling machines to the locations, the U.S. Attorney's release said, and others involved would drop off and pick up money from each location. At least one of those involved said money from the machine belonging to Vo. Auditing and accounting sheets from each transaction were compiled by Truong.

All profits went to Vo, who would subtract the cost of the gaming machines and sometimes pay operational cost of each location, the release said. On other occasions, the business operator would be held responsible for costs.

Investigators discovered that weekly profits from the gaming businesses were between $25,000 and $60,000, the release said.

Co-defendants in the case told investigators that Vo controlled and directed the employees, at each location, about how the money was split, the number of machines and whose name would be on the rental agreement and utility bills. Vo would instruct his wife and others to pick up and deliver money to each location, the release said.

Truong directed the operators at each location about the collection of money and taught them how to audit the machines.

Under a plea agreement, Vo agreed to forfeit property including more than $200,000 located in Fayetteville banks.

That included $123,900 located in a safe deposit box and $49,500 split among three different accounts at unidentified Bank of America branch offices; $51,971 discovered in a safe deposit box at a Wells Fargo Bank; and $46,106 taken from Vo's home on the 5600 block of Dodge Drive.

Vo will begin serving his sentence no earlier than June 25, a federal court document said.

Truong, federal court documents said, was indicted in October on charges of conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business and with conducting an illegal gambling business.

Under a plea agreement, Truong pleaded guilty in February to the conspiracy and agreed to forfeit the same property as her husband, court documents said.

Truong is scheduled for sentencing during the July 10 term of court, the release said.

Staff writer Nancy McCleary can be reached at nmccleary@fayobserver.com or 486-3568.

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